Screen holder



45 part of the operator.

Fatented Feb. 6, 1934 srArss SCREEN HOLDER Arthur Sandbrook, Newton, Mass. Application June'4, 1922.. Serial No. 615,413 r 1. Claim. (oi. 91-450) My present invention relates to devices for holding screens or similar or analogous articles during painting thereof.

The difficulties attendant upon painting such articles as screens are well-known, it being customary to lay them flat upon supports, and then paint them, thus requiring that the operator bend over the screens in an uncomfortable and tiring position. screen has been painted, and the same is reversed, the painted side is then placed uponthe supports, resulting in mar-ring a portion of the previously painted surface. Also, when painted flat, it is difiicuit for the operator to perceive whether or not the interstices in the mesh of the screen are being clogged with paint, as freuently happens.

An important object of the present invention, therefore, resides in the provision of a device for holding screens or the like during painting thereof, which will facilitate the painting operation, which will enable the operator to stand in a comfortable position while painting, and which will greatly speed up the operation of painting the opposite surfaces of such articles.

In carrying out my invention, I utilize a frame provided with fixed gripping elements adapted to engage one edge of a screen or the like, and with resiliently controlled gripping means to engage the opposite edge. I also provide means, preferably manually operable, to release the resilient gripping means, whereby the operator will have both hands free to remove a painted article from the holder. The resilient gripping means is readily adjustable within a wide range, thus permitting a single frame to be utilized for screens or the like of widely varying sizes and contours.

The frame above mentioned is pivotally mounted between suitable supports, and when an operator has completed the painting of one side of a screen, said frame be instantly swung about its pivots, presenting the opposite surface for painting without any change in position on the Means is provided, associated with one of said supports, to hold said frame in proper position during the painting operation.

Other objects and features of the invention reside in the particular construction and arrangement of my novel device, and all of the above, and other objects and features of the invention, details of construction, combinations of parts and advantages, Will be hereinafter more fully pointed out, described and claimed.

Furthermore, when one side of the Referring to the drawing, illustrating a prereferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of my novel device with a screen held therein in painting position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan sectional View on the line 4-4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail illustrating a modified gripping medium associated with the resilient gripping device.

Referring now to the drawing, for a particular description of the invention, its construction and operation, 10 designates a substantially rectangular frame provided with pivot pins 11 at each side thereof. These pivot pins may be set in uprights 12 or in any other suitable supports so arranged as to position the frame at the proper height for the individual requirements and comfort of an operator. A catch 13 is loosely mounted on one of the uprights 12, and is adapted to engage one corner of the frame 10 to hold the same in position at desired times.

Formed in the top of the frame 10, and depending inwardly therefrom, are two or more lugs 14, to engage the groove 15 on one side of a screen frame 16. In the event that the screens being operated upon have no grooves, these lugs may be sharp or pointed to effect a sufficient bite into the frame 16 to hold same in position. Vertically reciprocable Within the frame 10 is a cross-arm 17, provided at its ends with guides 18 to slide on the frame 10 and maintain said cross-arm horizontal. Attached to an eye 19 on the center of said crossarm is a cable 20, terminating in a stirrup 21 by means of which the cross-arm 1'7 may be pulled dovmwardly against the tension of the springs 22, which are affixed at one end to eyes 23 on the guides 18 and at their other ends to hooks 2:; formed in the side Walls of the frame 10. As clearly illustrated in Fig. 2, the cable 20 passes through an aperture in the lower wall of the frame 10, to prevent interference with the work by said cable when the frame is swung to inverted position.

On the cross-arm 17 is a rib 25 adapted to engage the groove 26 in the screen frame 16. When a screen is positioned in the frame 10, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the springs 22 will pull the cross: arm 17 upwardly, firmly seating the rib 25 in the groove 26 and forcing the screen 16 upwardly with the lugs 14 seated in the groove 15. The catch 13 is swung over one corner of the frame 10, and the full surface of one side of the screen 16 is presented to the operator for painting. On completion of the surface presented, the operator releases the catch 13, swings the frame 10 on its pivots 11 until said frame is in an inverted position to that illustrated in Fig. 1, whereupon the opposite surface of the screen 16 is presented for painting, the catch 13 is again hooked over the frame 10, and the device firmly held against movement.

When in this position, the operator is enabled to see through the mesh 27 of the screen, and to determine whether or not paint is clogging the interstices of said mesh, and if so, to at once correct the same. The operator is in a comfortable, upright position, and because of the arrangement of my novel holder, and the ease with which the opposite surfaces of the screens may be presented to the operator, great speed of operation in painting the same is attained. Upon completion of a screen, the operator places his foot in the stirrup 21, depresses the same and hence the cross-arm 1'7, and is enabled to use both hands to grasp the edges of the screen for removal from the frame, and to also use both hands in placing an unpainted screen in position in the holder. Thereupon, release of the stirrup 21 will enable the springs 22 to perform their function of drawing the crossarm 17 upwardly until the new screen is firmly held in position as above explained. I

In the event that the screens to be painted are not provided with grooves, I may utilize a grooved member 28 on the cross-arm 17, as illustrated in Fig. 5, which will afford a firm seat for the lower edge of the screen, while the lugs or prongs 14 will firmly grip the upper edge thereof.

The simplicity, ease and speed of operation, and other advantages incident to my novel holder will be instantly apparent.

I believe that the device illustrated herein and above briefly described is novel, and have therefore claimed the same broadly in this application.

While I have necessarily described my present invention somewhat in detail, it will be appreciated that I may vary the size, shape and arrangement of parts within reasonably wide limits without departing from the spirit of the invention.

My invention is further described and defined in the form of claim as follows:

An adjustable frame adapted to receive and hold window screens for painting and to reverse the position of the screen while held in adjusted position, comprising a pair of vertical uprights, a rectangular frame pivoted to said uprights, a sliding cross-bar engaging two sides of the pivoted frame, a pair of springs normally holding the frame in an upright position, and means on thepivoted frame to engage the top of the screen, in combination with a latch to hold the pivoted frame in desired position whereby a screen to be painted may be fitted by depressing the cross-bar and permitting the springs to raise said cross-bar with the top of the screen in frame-holding position.

ARTHUR SANDBROOK. 

